Best Value Colleges in Washington
We estimate how many years the earnings premium over a typical Washington high school graduate would take to repay four years of net price. Across the 21 public and private nonprofit colleges that qualify, the estimate runs from 1.3 years at the fastest to 25.5 years at the slowest.
The median college needs 3.4 years to repay its net price, 0.2 years longer than the national median of 3.2 years. Public colleges (10) have a median payback of 3.2 years against 3.6 years for the 11 private nonprofit colleges, so public options tend to repay faster here.
University of Washington-Seattle Campus ranks first at 1.3 years, ahead of Washington State University (1.8 years) and Walla Walla Community College (2.3 years). Payback is an estimate, not a forecast: it assumes four years of net price and the earnings of past graduates, and it says nothing about your own major or career.
How this list is built
A college appears here only if it meets every condition below.
- Colleges considered
- Public and private nonprofit 4-year colleges
- Ranked by payback, lowest first. Ties are broken by larger undergraduate enrollment, then by name.
- Main campuses only, with at least 60% of core data fields reported
- Main campus located in Washington
- At least 500 undergraduate students enrolled (fall 2024)
- Graduation rate of 40% or higher
- A reported payback value (schools without one are not ranked)
- This page is published only when at least 15 schools qualify; Washington has 21
- Data period
- Payback: years for the earnings premium over a high school graduate in the same state to repay four years of net price (shown only when the premium is at least $2,000).
- Net price: average for students receiving aid, academic year 2023-24.
- Earnings: median earnings four years after completing, measured in 2022 and 2023 for the 2017-18 and 2018-19 cohorts, in 2024 dollars.
- Graduate debt: median federal loan debt of completers, pooled 2020 and 2021 cohorts.
- Graduation rate: first-time, full-time students who started in fall 2018 (4-year) or fall 2021 (2-year), finishing within 150% of normal time.
- Source: U.S. Department of Education College Scorecard, June 2026 release.
Showing all 21 qualifying schools. Select a column heading to re-sort the table.
| 1 | University of Washington-Seattle Campus Seattle, WA Public · 4-year | 1.3 years | $14,091 | $82,515 | $14,615 | 84% |
| 2 | Washington State University Pullman, WA Public · 4-year | 1.8 years | $14,971 | $73,467 | $19,500 | 61% |
| 3 | Walla Walla Community College Walla Walla, WA Public · 4-year | 2.3 years | $9,406 | $56,719 | $14,000 | 43% |
| 4 | Heritage University Toppenish, WA Private nonprofit · 4-year | 2.6 years | $14,598 | $62,898 | $14,573 | 46% |
| 5 | Eastern Washington University Cheney, WA Public · 4-year | 2.8 years | $13,886 | $60,781 | $19,500 | 45% |
| 6 | Central Washington University Ellensburg, WA Public · 4-year | 3.2 years | $18,476 | $63,444 | $19,500 | 52% |
| 7 | Centralia College Centralia, WA Public · 4-year | 3.2 years | $9,862 | $52,981 | — | 44% |
| 8 | Seattle Pacific University Seattle, WA Private nonprofit · 4-year | 3.3 years | $24,488 | $70,115 | $24,000 | 62% |
| 9 | Walla Walla University College Place, WA Private nonprofit · 4-year | 3.3 years | $23,329 | $68,868 | $26,842 | 62% |
| 10 | Pacific Lutheran University Tacoma, WA Private nonprofit · 4-year | 3.4 years | $19,589 | $63,671 | $22,578 | 70% |
| 11 | Wenatchee Valley College Wenatchee, WA Public · 4-year | 3.4 years | $9,722 | $52,108 | $10,332 | 41% |
| 12 | Gonzaga University Spokane, WA Private nonprofit · 4-year | 3.5 years | $35,119 | $80,896 | $24,454 | 87% |
| 13 | Seattle University Seattle, WA Private nonprofit · 4-year | 3.6 years | $34,662 | $79,426 | $19,883 | 74% |
| 14 | Saint Martin's University Lacey, WA Private nonprofit · 4-year | 3.6 years | $28,119 | $71,704 | $22,500 | 55% |
| 15 | South Puget Sound Community College Olympia, WA Public · 4-year | 3.8 years | $9,132 | $50,185 | $11,000 | 44% |
| 16 | Western Washington University Bellingham, WA Public · 4-year | 4.7 years | $21,193 | $58,560 | $18,500 | 65% |
| 17 | Northwest University Kirkland, WA Private nonprofit · 4-year | 5.0 years | $22,288 | $58,404 | $20,891 | 67% |
| 18 | Whitworth University Spokane, WA Private nonprofit · 4-year | 5.1 years | $26,534 | $61,291 | $25,000 | 70% |
| 19 | University of Puget Sound Tacoma, WA Private nonprofit · 4-year | 8.1 years | $38,394 | $59,684 | $25,000 | 68% |
| 20 | Whitman College Walla Walla, WA Private nonprofit · 4-year | 8.2 years | $33,313 | $56,804 | $18,437 | 81% |
| 21 | The Evergreen State College Olympia, WA Public · 4-year | 25.5 years | $24,319 | $44,424 | $20,500 | 43% |
How to compare these colleges
Treat the payback column as a way to compare schools, not as a promise about your own future. It uses the average net price, so your own cost may be higher or lower, and it uses median earnings of former students, which depend heavily on major. Check earnings for your intended program on each college profile, and favor schools where the graduation rate is high.
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All 51 colleges in Washington See the national version of this ranking